Unexpected Developments
by shaylturner
Summary: Mai always expected to panic when he returned from England. She had assumed her heart wouldn't be able to see him after the words he had said to her that day. But now Naru and Lin have returned to Japan and she finds herself working once more as an assistant at SPR. Why would she not help if she had the abilities she did? - Full synopsis inside
1. Synopsis and Author's Note

**Full Synopsis:**

 **Mai always expected to panic when he returned from England. She had assumed her heart wouldn't be able to see him after the words he had said to her that day. But now Naru and Lin have returned to Japan and she finds herself working once more as an assistant at SPR. Why would she not help if she had the abilities she did?**

 **In the ten months the two stoic men were gone, Mai's abilities had gone through a series of unexpected developments. From her instincts being sharpened to the point where she can now determine who will be in trouble to dreaming of residual memories left behind by ghosts her friends have been in contact with, Mai's psychic abilities have shown no signs of slowing down nor going away.**

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I have only watched the anime, but through research and reading other fan fiction works, I have a vague understanding of what happens after the ending of the anime. However, for the purposes of this particular fanfiction, I am not working with the same universe that the sequel "Akumu no Sumu le". There will also be no appearance of Gene anywhere in this story. I'm working under the assumption that he has passed on and, more than anything, I want Mai to develop confidence in her abilities, which I feel cannot happen while Gene continues to guide her.**

 **There will be more than one case in this story and it will, ultimately, be a NaruXMai story. It may present other ships within the fandom, but they will definitely not be the focus.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Title: Unexpected Developments**

 **Fandom: Ghost Hunt**

* * *

 _Case file I: Attenuate_

 _Prologue_

* * *

Occasionally, there were times where Mai couldn't concentrate.

It wasn't anything surprising, really. She has always known herself to be easily distracted; however, as she grew older, she found herself more focusing on unrelated, albeit extremely stressful, matters instead of just spacing out (or, though she was often embarrassed to admit it, nodding off) while at work, like she so often had when she first started.

She didn't know why today of all days she was agonizing over working here again. She'd started being an assistant again almost two months ago. Wistfully, she figured that it was maybe because she had been caught up in the whirlwind of her boss's return, along with studying for the finishing term's exams. Yet, still, this was where she found herself: sitting at her desk in Shibuya's Psychic Research, gnawing at her thumbnail, eyes unfocused, two months after the return of her boss's ten month departure to England.

Mai honestly couldn't remember how she managed to smile in those ten months. Not that she had based her happiness on her proximity to her narcissistic, tea-addicted jerk of a boss. She supposed it was more along the lines of no longer having anything she loved doing anymore. Oh, yes, she would be the first to give a long line of reasons why her job was so frustrating, most of them having to do with previously stated boss, but she loved what she did while at SPR. Yes, things were terrifying most of the time, but she never felt happier than when she was with the people she had begun to consider her family.

Then, they were ripped apart. A little dramatic, she admitted with a softened wince, but true nonetheless. Without SPR to act as an adhesive to keep them together, the people she had loved so dearly had drifted in and out of her life in those ten months. Monk and Ayako had tried their best to stay in contact, but Mai knew they were busy. Her makeshift parental figures were full-time workers on top of their ghost-hunting hobby. Mai didn't blame them for their loss of contact.

Most surprisingly, Masako had ended up being the one she was in contact with on a daily basis. The first two weeks after the two dark-haired men that led their band of misfit ghost hunters had left had been almost palpable with tension between the two young teen girls. Until Mai finally sent Masako a signature, disarming smile and told her she would always be one of her best friends, even if the famous medium didn't want to speak to her anymore. Masako had responded with an uncharacteristic hug.

After the young female medium, John and Yasuhara had come in tied second for keeping in contact with Mai. John often invited the two teen girls to visit the Catholic orphanages with him. Yasuhara had volunteered to help Mai study for exams and, when the two teens had heard that Masako still attended schooling via online classes, they had set up an ever-shifting schedule for study sessions together.

Despite her growing friendships with some of the SPR irregulars and having more time to spend with her friends at school, Mai had felt there had been a large part of her life missing in those ten months. Although it's true part of what was missing was the two men she had grown so used to being around every day, she knew most of it came from no longer feeling as though she had purpose. Without ghost hunting, she had too much time on her hands and nothing to do with it. She had found a temporary job at a library, stocking and filing a few hours every day after school. But it wasn't what she wanted out of life. When she had started her third year of high school, she was assaulted with the ever familiar question asked by her teachers: "What do you want to do when you grow up?"

She had been speechless. She knew what she wanted to do. It was what she had been doing for the better part of her high school life. She wanted to hunt ghosts. Mai wanted to help people like she had been taught she could. At the same time, she had known she would never be able to. Not without the two men who had taught her so much. It had shattered her confidence in the future.

It only worsened when she had discovered her psychic powers would never stop. Though she never continued ghost hunting in the wake of SPR's disbandment, she had discovered that she could pick up residual memories from the ghosts her medium friend came into contact with. Thankfully, Masako never took dangerous cases for her show, but Mai had helped her find information to get spirits to cross over more than once. Mai's fight or flight instinct had also broadened. She could feel the sickening twist of her stomach and had learned she could often pick up names of her friends among her jumbled thoughts whenever it happened. Her powers were becoming less vague with every day and she knew it would forever be a part of her life.

She had supposed two months ago that it had been a coincidence when one day she woke up with an acidic twist in her gut and her mind echoed the nickname she had given her old boss. Mai had almost fell out of bed, rushing to her computer and emailing the taller, older male who had left for England. It was the first time she had done it in the ten months since their departure. She had never attempted to contact either of them. She knew it would startle the Chinese man and that he would probably send an interrogating email later that day when it was an appropriate time in England. But she still sent the email.

 _Lin-san,_

 _Watch please watch him carefully today._

Mai hadn't even signed it. She hadn't written his name. She knew that Lin would know who she was talking about. The twisting in her gut subsided slowly after the email sent. She had done all she could. The two men were too far away for her demand she stick with them for the day, as she often did when she felt her instincts tell her that her friends were in danger. The young girl had shook herself and got ready for her day at school.

It was after lunch when her name was called over the PA system. She was mildly concerned about what was wrong, but found herself strangely serene as she approached the secretary, who told her she had someone calling for her on the telephone. The teen girl only felt vague confusion in the back of her mind, but found her breathing calmer than it had been in months and her heart lighter than she could ever remember.

"Taniyama speaking."

Silence greeted her for a brief moment. "You've become much more professional since the last time this happened, Mai."

Mai sharply breathed in. She expected panic. That's how she had always imagined she would feel if she had ever saw or heard from him again. However, all she felt was a warmth that spread through her chest, one that curled in her stomach and twisted gently around her limbs. It was pleasant and she could feel a small smile pulling at her lips. There was silence as this happened. He was waiting for her response.

For a few more moments, she wondered what she should call him. Does one continue to call the man who rejected them by a nickname without honorifics? She somehow knew deep down that whenever he was in Japan, he didn't want to be Oliver Davis. It was something she was astonishingly sure of. She recognized that he had still called her by her first name. For the first time in a while, she brushed past her instincts—settling on the pain she had once felt in her heart because of the man currently speaking to her.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Shibuya-san?" Her voice did not match the coldness of her words. She kept her cheery tone and even forced a little laugh at the end.

She could hear a sharp intake of breath from his end this time, then a long silence. "Mai…" His voice was startlingly softer. Mai felt her heart jolt and she closed her eyes. There was more silence, but she could hear his breathing this time. He had moved the phone closer to his mouth to speak to her.

Mai let out a soft sigh. "Naru…" she echoed his tone. She almost missed the soft gust of breath against the mouthpiece he must have released. Mai swallowed and opened her eyes. She remembered the faint twist of fear she had felt this morning. "Are you alright?" She didn't even try to hide the concern that colored her voice.

"Lin and I are back in Japan. We are reopening Shibuya Psychic Research. I was wondering if you would be interested your old position at the company." His voice was curt and professional once again. It sounded as if he had adjusted his phone back to its original position as well.

There was still no panic. It surprised her. She felt so at peace in that moment. He was back. He was offering her old job back to her as well. Her instincts were warm with affection and excitement—the likes that she hadn't felt in a few months. Her heart, however, ached with twinge of pain. It kept her mouth from moving.

He was waiting again. She thought with a small twitch of amusement that this as perhaps the most patient she had ever remembered him being. Mai swallowed thickly and opened her mouth. When nothing came out, she couldn't help the laughter that tumbled from her lips. It was genuine this time. She could hear his breathing again, faster than last time.

She felt her instincts again, pulsing warmth through her. This is what she had been waiting for those last ten months, wasn't it? Although she had tried to deny it to herself almost every day, she had waited for his return with an unconscious bated breath. Maybe she had always somehow known he would come back. It was like the clouds of uncertainty that had been plaguing her and her future were blown away.

"When do I start?" she asked him, when her laughter finally died away.

* * *

"Mai." His firm voice startled her from her thoughts. She felt her mind almost get physically yanked back to the present. She was at the office, sitting at the desk; Naru stood next to her, almost too close for her comfort. Her brown eyes snapped to attention, locking with his piercing blue gaze. She let a sheepish grin touch her lips as she murmured an apology.

He didn't drift away, as she had expected him to. He continued standing close to her, looking down at her. It felt like he was studying her. Her skin prickled at the thought and she found herself unable to look away from him.

For a brief moment, she saw his eyebrows draw together. "I called you a few times. You've never needed me to call you more than twice," he said, taking a step closer to where she sat. Though no concern echoed in his tone of voice and none showed on his now stoic face, she could feel her instincts throb with the recognition of it. "Even with how you sleep at work, you've never been this bad of an assistant." His words were harsh but she smiled nonetheless.

She waved him away and tore her gaze from him to look at the files on her desk. "I'm fine. Did you need tea? Let me get it." She stood and smoothed her skirt before turning to walk to the kitchen. Mai moved to step around him when he grabbed her arm. The breath caught in her lungs and she peered curiously up at him. "Hai, Naru?"

Naru stared down at her, his expression and his eyes unreadable. Silence rang between them as she looked at him and he studied her. A soft sigh fell from her lips before she swallowed thickly. Confusion pierced through the back of her mind as she watched his gaze drift to watch her throat. His grip on her arm fell away and he stepped back, creating distance between them. Mai watched him stride back into his office before she let out a soft breath.

She was already half way to the kitchen when she heard his voice call out.

"Mai, tea."


	3. Chapter 2

**Title: Unexpected Developments**

 **Fandom: Ghost Hunt**

* * *

 _Case File I: Attenuate_

 _Chapter 1_

* * *

 _Day 1_

Mai was surprised when she came in that morning to see an appointment penciled in on her calendar on her desk. She hadn't taken any appointments for SPR since they opened per the request of her boss—he stated they had a lot of paperwork to go through, mostly with having funds and equipment transferred back to Japan from England. Lin had given her files of cases the two men had taken in England during their return; Mai was told to read through them.

When she sat at her desk to begin to read them, she was surprised to find them especially detailed. They included photos and dvd recordings of the footage captured by the cameras. Everything had been translated into kanji as well. At first, she just assumed that was the way BSPR operated, putting more evidence inside of their files for future reference. When she made this offhanded comment to Lin, however, he just shook his head.

It wasn't long before she realized there was a common theme between the six files she had been handed. They were all centered around astral projection and the abilities of team members with latent ESP. Her instincts hummed with warmth; the two men had given her files to study so she could learn more about her own abilities. She was dutiful in studying them, sometimes concentrating so hard Lin had to break her from her attentiveness to send her home for the night.

The last two months had been case-free; the company hadn't even been called once for a prospective case. So she stared at the appointment penciled in for the day in shaky kanji, written in handwriting she didn't recognize, in confusion until the voice of her boss caught her attention.

"Mai, tea."

She didn't voice her response, only went to the kitchenette and put a tea kettle on. A few minutes later, she carried a cup in her hands to the closed door of her boss. Mai lightly knocked twice before opening the door and setting the cup on the corner of his desk.

Naru didn't look up to acknowledge her presence until she lingered longer than she usually did. He glanced up from the file in his hands and pinned her underneath a dark blue gaze. "Yes, Mai?" he questioned with a slightly bored tone.

Mai shifted slightly under his stare and let her eyes wander away from him. "There's an appointment penciled in for this afternoon that I didn't write in," she said softly. "Are we accepting cases again?"

She felt more than saw his eyes move away from her and back to the file he had been reading. "Yes; we received a phone call after you had gone home last night. We are meeting the client this afternoon." His tone was clipped and she took it for impatience so she merely nodded and made to leave the room.

"Mai," he called out before she crossed the threshold of his office. She paused and turned to look at him, her head unconsciously tilting to the side. "Make tea before the client arrives. I would like you to be present to take notes." After he finished, his hand waved in dismissal.

A touch of a smile graced her lips. "Hai; thank you, Naru." She bowed her head a little in respect and returned to her desk, firmly closing his door behind her.

* * *

True to her word, Mai had hot tea waiting on the coffee table in the main room five minutes before the client was scheduled to arrive. She was seated on one end of the couch, nervously rubbing the spine of a purple journal in her lap. It was opened to the next available page, almost a quarter of the way through. At Masako's urging, she had started keeping track of her dreams, moments her instincts spoke of trouble, and other instances of possible psychic influence.

The sound of the office door opening pulled her from her nervous action. With a warm smile on her face, Mai stood and strode towards a middle-aged man that stood near the entryway of the office. He looked worried as he glanced around the office, before visibly calming at the sight of her.

She bowed and smiled more at him. "Welcome to Shibuya Psychic Research; my name is Taniyama Mai." Mai gestured towards the couch. "Please be seated. I'll retrieve my boss and serve tea." She watched him hesitantly sit on the couch before walking to the two offices. After a brief knock on each door, she waited until the doors opened to return to her seat on the couch near the client.

Mai watched Naru and Lin sit around the coffee table from the corner of her eye as she served tea. It wasn't until all of the cups had been distributed that Naru began questioning the client.

"I'm Shibuya Kazuya. You spoke last night with my assistant Lin Koujo. You neglected, however, to state your name." His cool voice was paired with a glare at the client, who looked down at his tea in shame.

"My sincere apologies. I was distraught last night. My name is Takada Akira; my family and I live in a house a few hours away." The man's voice was weak. Mai found herself writing in her journal, but couldn't tear her eyes away from the man as she did.

"Tell us what has been occurring in your household."

Once more, the man stared at his teacup. "I live with my wife, my daughter, and two sons. We recently moved into the home six months ago. Nothing happened immediately. At least, nothing I was made aware of. But within the last two months, my daughter and wife have been locked inside rooms. At first, we thought it was my sons pulling pranks.

"Then mirrors started shattering whenever a woman used them. My wife had to be taken to the hospital last night because a shard had pierced her arm. My daughter has been physically pulled away from the dinner table during meals. She once received a concussion from being slammed into the wall during one of these times." The man paused to calm his quivering voice. "Please help us. I just want my wife and daughter to be safe."

Mai was writing faster than she could ever remember, but still found herself unable to look away from the distraught client. Her breath was caught in her throat as she waited for her boss's response.

Then, suddenly, it felt like whatever hold was on her, preventing her from looking at her journal, was released. She was finally able to tear her gaze from the client and she looked down at the writing in her lap. The breath she had been holding burst from her lungs as she stared in awe at the gibberish she had unknowingly written.

 _Fear. Hiding something. Fear. Love. Fear. Mirrors. Mirrors. Dinner. Fear. Women. Fear. Hiding something. Hospital. Hiding something. Concern. Fear. Fear. Fear. Shame. Shame. Help. Help. Shame. Help. Shame. Help. Hiding something. Help._

Mai didn't hear the men discussing logistics of their needs while taking the case. She didn't even hear the client leave. The girl barely heard her boss call for her. What pulled her out of her trance was a pale, masculine hand beginning to tug her journal from her lap.

"No!" Her voice was hysteric and she slammed her palm over her writing, trying to hide it. Wide brown eyes flew up to connect with a dark blue glare.

"Excuse me?" It was spoken with a dangerously low, angry tone. Naru's glare pinned her in place as she tightened her grip on her journal. "Mai, give me your notes." She could hear the direct order in his voice. Her instincts screamed at her to obey, but the fear that spread through her stopped her from listening.

Nothing she had written made sense. She couldn't give it to him. He would ridicule her for her terrible notes and never allow her to be present for note taking again. She was useless. She didn't belong here. She was a burden. Her grip on her journal lessened at the dawn of these thoughts, allowing her boss to finally tug it from her hands.

It jolted her back to the present and she stood angrily. "Hey! Naru! You can't read that!" She hurried after him as he walked towards his office.

He glanced over his shoulder at her with a raised brow and then read her notes. A deep frown marred his face as his eyes narrowed. He stopped at the doorway of his office and held the journal back to her. Mai snatched it from him and held it tightly to her chest, her cheeks coloring with shame.

"Next time," he warned in a low voice, "do not hide your notes from me. I am your boss. I have every right to know what your instincts tell you." He walked into his office and shut the door behind him.

She stood there, still with shame. Hot tears pricked at her eyes as her face flushed. She was useless. She didn't belong here. She was a burden. She never did anything right. She didn't contribute. She just held them back. She wasn't good enough; she would never be good enough.

Through these thoughts, something stirred in her, something she dimly realized was her instincts trying to speak to her, but the pain from her thoughts clouded her mind. A large warm hand touched her shoulder and she jerked into attention. She violently pulled away from the touch and stared wide-eyed at Lin as he studied her.

"Taniyama-san?" His voice was littered with worry. Mai managed a shaky grin and waved off his concern, making her way back to her desk. She suddenly felt free from her restricting mind and felt light. "Naru said to call everyone in for this case. He would like to leave by eight tomorrow morning." The smile that was on her face finally gained a warm glow as she nodded, pulling the phone from its resting place.

Vaguely, she could feel Lin still watching her as she started to place calls to the irregular SPR members. It wasn't until she started speaking animatedly with Ayako that she noticed he moved away from studying her, walking into Naru's office and shutting the door behind him.

* * *

When Mai got home that night, she immediately went to her room to change into something comfortable—namely her pajamas. Pulling off her clothes from the day, she felt her attention get drawn to the full-length mirror she had hanged on the wall opposite from the door. Slowly, she approached the mirror and pouted at the image that was reflected upon its glass.

She stood in front of it in her underwear, her hair having grown longer the past year since the last time she worked for SPR. Her brown hair now fell past her shoulders and was sadly limp and dull in color. Her pout growing, she tugged at the ends of her hair in displeasure. Her face had thinned out as she had grown older but she was currently sporting dark circles under her eyes from having stayed up studying the past week.

Her pout was steadily growing into a scowl as she continued to look closely at her reflection. Her teeth were too big when she smiled and weren't white enough. Her shoulders were too wide to be feminine. Her breasts were uneven and too small. She poked at her stomach and glared in anger as she touched a small pocket of fat. Her thighs were too big; her hips too narrow; her legs too short; her feet too wide apart.

Once more, she jabbed at the pocked of fat at her stomach and looked at herself in disgust.

 _It's fine_ , she surmised, starting to pull on her pajamas, _I wasn't hungry for dinner anyways._

As she settled down at her desk to work on homework, she felt the twisting call of her intuition again, but she brushed it away in disregard.


	4. Chapter 3

**Title: Unexpected Developments**

 **Fandom: Ghost Hunt**

* * *

 _Case File I: Attenuate_

 _Chapter 2_

* * *

 _Day 2_

When Mai woke up the next morning, she realized she barely had a half hour to spare to get ready, pack, and eat breakfast. She rushed to get ready, throwing clothing haphazardly into an overnight bag as she brushed her teeth. Pulling clothing on for the day, she sent an email to her school letting them know she had been called away for business and would return as soon as possible. By the time she finished and unplugged her cheap phone from her charger, she saw she had less than ten minutes to catch the train. She grabbed two cold waters and an apple and shoved them into her bag as she headed out the door; she would eat when she was hungry.

As she boarded the train to Shibuya, she felt the twisting of her instincts and, annoyed, she pushed it away. She didn't need to pay attention to it today. Honestly, she was never told her high school friends were in trouble and she would be with everyone from SPR today anyways. Listening to her intuition right now would only unnecessarily worry her, which, she decided as she exited the train at the station and started to make her way to the SPR building, was a waste of her energy.

By the time she fluttered into the office, she had five minutes to spare. Walking briskly to her desk, she nodded her acknowledgement towards Lin as he was starting to bring gear down to the van. She grabbed a spare charger she kept in her desk and stuffed it into her bag before hurrying to help Lin carry things downstairs. As she lifted some camera gear, she could feel Naru watching her from where he stood in the doorway to his office, but refused to meet his gaze.

Mai hoped he would ignore her; she didn't want to speak about what had happened yesterday. She had upset him, she knew. It wasn't often that he used such an angry tone with her, especially after his return from England. In fact, she was sure it was the first time since his return that she had ever sparked such a reaction from him. It filled her with shame and embarrassment.

She had barely set down the camera equipment in the van when she heard a friendly, loud male voice call her name. "Mai-chan!" Riddled with confusion, she glanced up and looked around the parking lot. Her face broke into a smile when she saw the older teen waving at her.

"Yasu-kun!" she called out, waving back. It wasn't until she saw a smaller, female teen step from behind him that she ran over. "Masako-chan!" The brunette rushed over and threw her arms around her kimono-clad, medium best friend. Light, feminine laughter bubbled between the two girls as they hugged. "I haven't seen you in weeks, Masako-chan!" Mai pouted, pulling away from their embrace.

The medium smiled sheepishly at her. "I'm sorry, Mai-chan. I was called away suddenly to another island for the show. I hope Yasuhara-kun didn't cause you too much trouble during our study sessions." The three teens started walking back up the stairs to the office.

"Excuse me? I never cause trouble, Masako-chan!" Yasuhara cried out from where he trailed behind the two teen girls. "It's not my fault Mai-chan is utterly hopeless in English!" He laughed when the said brunette leveled him with a glare.

Mai held open the door to the office for her friends and continued to glare at Yasuhara. "I am _not_ hopeless in English," she muttered, walking over to hand him a television screen. "I do perfectly well except some certain sounds and you know that." She shouldered another camera and handed Masako a light microphone.

The laughter of her medium friend pulled her glare from Yasuhara. "I don't know, Mai-chan. You're pretty helpless with the _L_ -sounds," Masako tittered, her tone friendly. The brunette decided she would glare at both of her friends for the rest of the day.

"I see you've finally mastered the ability to speak and work at the same time." The cool voice called the attention of all three of the teens. Naru still stood in the doorway of his office. He looked at the three employees in front of him and bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Yasuhara-san, Hara-san."

Masako looked away from him and bowed her head. "Shibuya-san," she echoed in a professional voice. Mai glanced at her in concern. During their many friendly dates in the ten months Naru and Lin were in England, Masako had admitted she was ashamed of her behavior towards the younger of the two men. She had told Mai that she had come to terms that she hadn't even liked Naru, but wanted to have him because she simply couldn't. It had taken a lot of warm encouragement from the brunette for the medium to finally shed her shame.

"Hey there, Big Boss!" Yasuhara was all grins. Although he was extremely busy staying at the top of his class and with his extra-curricular activities, Mai knew he loved doing research with SPR. "We were just talking about how bad Mai is at English. I don't think you could even teach her!" Mai decided she really didn't like him today, however, as she scowled at him.

"Is that so?" their boss asked with a raised brow. His cold blue gaze looked over his petite assistant and he smirked. "I wouldn't have expected anything more. I doubt her brain cells are able to comprehend all of the English language." Her cheeks flushed as she swung her glare towards him.

"Yeah!" Yasuhara added, cutting her off before she could form a retort. "It took her two weeks just to be able to say the name _Oliver_!" Mai narrowed her eyes at her tutor-friend.

The smirk on Naru's face turned smug. "Oh? _Oliver_ , huh?"

Masako took pity on her friend and cut into the teasing the two boys were putting her through. "She was assigned as a partner to an American transfer student with the name. Mai-chan had been really upset because the boy kept laughing at her whenever she tried to say his name." Mai smiled at her and reached for another camera when her boss said something that stopped her in her tracks.

"Say it."

Mai turned to him with wide eyes. His face was stoic, the smugness and the smirk vanished. His blue eyes were serious and something inside of her reverberated with the feeling of curiosity and determination. He wanted her to say his English name. Her tongue felt thick as she swallowed. He was waiting for her again. The silence filled with all of the patience she had felt during their phone call two months ago.

" _Oliver._ " The name rolled off of her tongue and hung in the air. It wasn't perfect; her tone was still heavily weighed down with a thick accent. However, as they continued to look at each other, something vibrated in the empty space between their bodies.

It was finally broken when Naru pushed off the doorway and strode to over to the equipment. He walked up to her and stood startlingly close. His stare didn't move from her, even as he tugged the second camera from her hands and put it over his own shoulder. She watched him with wide brown eyes, her breathing unconsciously shallow.

"You're right," he said suddenly, making her jump slightly where she stood so closely in front of him. His gaze still didn't leave her face. "She is utterly hopeless." With that, he brushed past her, making her face flush and her body tense as their arms touched for a few moments. She stood still in her place, watching him walk out of the office and down the stairs to the van.

She was coaxed out of her stupor by a shy feminine voice. Mai looked over to her two friends to find Masako's cheeks a little pink and Yasuhara's face covered in a wolfish grin. Her cheeks flushing even more, she made a half-hearted comment about how they should get going before Naru decided to fire them all.

As she was helping put the last of the equipment into the van, she saw John conversing quietly with Lin, a kind smile on his face. She felt her face twist in confusion at the lack of their resident monk and miko. "Monk-san and Matsuzaki-san will be meeting us at the location," Naru supplied, startling the young assistant. She nodded in understanding as she closed the van doors. She heard Naru call for everyone to get into the vehicles so they could leave.

Mai gave a friendly smile and wave to John, Yasuhara, and Masako as they piled into the car John had brought. A sheepish smile touched her lips as she noticed Naru holding the door to the van open, waiting impatiently for her to climb into the center seat between him and Lin. She had barely buckled herself in when Naru slid into the seat beside her.

Her heart hammered in her chest when their legs pressed against each other for a moment. She let out a shaky sigh when he pulled back to give her more room. He shouldn't be touching her. She wasn't good enough for him. She wasn't good enough to work for him. She was burden. She wasn't good enough to date him; no wonder he rejected her. She never did anything good for them. She was useless. She was worthless.

A violent twist in her stomach tried to push past her thoughts, but Mai waved it away. She didn't need to listen to her instincts. They weren't good enough anyways. She didn't know how to use them. They were just like her: worthless, useless, a waste of time and space. She didn't deserve everything she had in her life.

Without her knowledge, her breathing had sharpened and was coming out in fast bursts. Tears were building up in her eyes and she was clutching her legs painfully tight, her knuckles white. She was unaware of the world outside her self-deprecating thoughts. Nothing existed outside her self-hatred.

"Mai."

It took her name, spoken in a surprisingly soft voice to draw her out of the darkness that had been beginning to consume her.

Mai breathed in sharply and looked over to her boss, who was watching her with his brows drawn together. When she blinked, a tear fell down her cheek and her hand flew up to touch the wet path it left behind. Her brown eyes were wide with shock as she slowly wiped it away.

A frown touched Naru's face as he studied her. She breathed softly and wiped her wet hand on her pants. His eyes narrowed as he watched the movement. Mai attempted a smile, but found herself only able to lift one side of her mouth—the result being an almost bitter half-smile.

"Mai," Naru said, leaning forward a little to study her closer. With her name being spoken once more, it seemed to push away what was left of the dark thoughts that had haunted her. Her half-smile became almost shockingly bright as it filled the rest of her face.

"I'm fine," she chirped happily, letting a soft giggle build from her throat. She turned away and faced the windshield. Focusing on the road in front of them and watching as they passed through the city, she missed the worried glance the two men on either side of her sent each other.


	5. Chapter 4

**Title: Unexpected Developments**

 **Fandom: Ghost Hunt**

* * *

 _Case File I: Attenuate_

 _Chapter 3_

* * *

 _Day 2 continued_

When she was younger, she found the silence of riding between the two men in the van to be maddening. However, today, Mai found it oddly comforting. She could feel her instincts coiling with warmth inside of her stomach and she felt her veins throb with the feeling of being protected. It was what lulled her to sleep

* * *

 _She could feel her dress hanging heavily on her body. The sleeves stretched past her fingertips and she could feel one of its shoulders starting to slide slowly off. She was staring at herself in the mirror._

 _Her hair was thin, stringy, limply laying at her shoulders. Her cheeks were hollowed and her eyes lay stark on dark black circles. Her skin was so pale she could see her veins, startlingly blue spindles branching out from the hem of the dress she was wearing. Her lips were chapped, chafed, sore and stinging. Her eyes looked glazed over. She could see the sharp angle of her collarbone jutting out almost grotesquely from its place under her skin._

 _The reflection in the mirror was clearly her own image. She watched as her lips parted in a horrified gasp. One of her hands lifted to touch the icy surface of the mirror and she bit her lip when she saw the blueish hue around her brittle fingernails. The taste of blood from her cracked lips hit her tongue and she recoiled back in shock._

 _Mai shut her eyes tightly, slowing her breath. She tried to separate herself from the vision. It was something she had read about in the case files Naru and Lin had given her to read. In order to dull the pain, astral projectors had to consciously remind themselves of their own reality so that they can split from the past reality they were witnessing. She hadn't done it before; this would be the first time she had a dream since studying the case files._

 _But she tried. She evened her breaths and focused on her home, her bed, the car she was riding in, Naru and Lin sitting next to her, her school, the homework she had to do, the pictures of her parents next to her bed, the key that sat in her pocket. When she opened her eyes, she still stared back at her withered reflection._

 _Mai couldn't hold back the snort. Of course she wouldn't be able to succeed in trying to do something like that on her first try; why, exactly, she thought she would be successful was beyond her. Some of the astral projectors she had read about had taken a couple months to master the ability to separate their reality from that of a vision._

 _A soft, sad sigh fell from her lips and she shuddered as she heard its breathy pitch echo back at her from all around. When she went to look at her surroundings, she noticed then that she could only see herself in the mirror; only darkness existed around her image. It took most of her will to tear her eyes away from her reflection._

 _It was like she was in a sea of black. There was no light, no floor, no beginning or end. It was just her, her reflection, and the mirror. Nothing existed aside from her body, her image, and that mirror. Nothing else seemed to even matter. Mai soon found herself staring at her mirrored image again._

 _She looked incredibly ill, she noted, reaching up to touch her own face with hesitant fingers. An unconscious whimper fled from her mouth as she realized that her face felt exactly as it looked-dry, sunken in, sharply angled. This was what she truly looked like: so horrifically sick that it was as if her body would soon give out on her._

 _Her hand slid from her face, down her neck; a whine creeped up the back of her throat when she felt how far her collar bone was sticking out. Her thin fingers skimmed down the length of the dress she was wearing. Mai supposed that, if she hadn't been wearing the dress, it would actually be a pretty dress, despite how it hung over her body without any shape. However, as it was on her, the red clashed violently against the pallid color of her skin. Not even the gentle, feminine lace trimming around the collar of the dress softened how it looked on her. It was also far too large for her small, withered frame. The sleeves hung past her fingertips and the shoulders were slipping down her arms; what had once been a modest collar for the dress now hung lowly on her chest._

 _Mai tried to focus on the pretty paisley pattern on the dress, but kept finding her attention being yanked back to her thin, sickly face. Her eyes were supposed to be brighter; her lips were supposed to be naturally red, not because of the dried blood that still tainted the taste on her tongue. Her cheeks were meant to be naturally rosy and her hair was supposed to be luscious and brown-she was nothing of what she was supposed to be. She had been trying so hard to become perfect, yet everything she had done seemed to make it even harder to attain._

 _She just wanted to be beautiful._

* * *

A firm, warm hand on her shoulder roused her from her sleep. Mai tried to blink away the exhaustion and the reality in her dream. She could feel Naru watching her, looking for tell-tale signs of astral projection. She felt the warning words die in her throat as she tried to speak to him, so she instead smiled and slid out of the van after him. For a brief moment, he stood just outside the van door, trapping her between it and him. He was watching her again. Then he was gone, already making his way to the house to speak to the family.

Mai let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding in. She knew that he was probably aware of the fact that her powers had grown; it surprised her that he hadn't interrogated her about them yet. There was no way that Lin hadn't told him of the email she sent the day he had arrived back in Japan. However, instead of questioning her silence, he just watched her. A small smirk tugged at her lips as she thought, again, about how uncharacteristically patient he was being with her.

She shook her head a little to scatter her thoughts and closed the van door behind her. She hadn't even walked forward three steps when an excited voice cried out her name and she was swept into the arms of a strong, long-haired monk. Delightful laughter tumbled from her mouth as he gave her a quick spin and hugged her tightly, her feet hanging off the ground. That momentary bliss then turned to panic and she felt her instincts try to push it away.

It was too late, however, as she struggled in his arms. "Put me down!" she gasped, voice caught somewhere between desperate and angry. "Put me down! I weigh too much for you to pick me up!" By the end of her plea, her voice bordered on hysteria.

Immediately, her feet hit the ground and she stumbled back, raising her arms as if to ensure he wouldn't reach for her again. Her entire body was trembling; she could feel it. Her lungs were desperately trying to drag in air and she vaguely realized she was starting to tumble into a panic attack. She couldn't believe he would pick her up; she was so heavy and overweight. Why would he ever do that to her? Why would he make her feel like that? Was it on purpose? Did he want her to understand that she was so fat no one could pick her up?

"Mai-chan? What's wrong?"

Her head snapped up and she made eye contact with the worried look on her beloved friend's face. She wondered when she had even looked down. Seeing him, though, forced the cloud of panic from her mind. Her arms, which had still been raised to still shield herself, fell slowly to her sides. His face went from worried to confused as he seemed to digest what she had said to him. "Mai-chan, you probably don't even weigh 50 kilos soaking wet with your clothes on," he told her, frowning. She frowned a little at him, then just laughed, shaking her head.

"I missed you, Monk-san!" she exclaimed, a wide, bright smile on her face, throwing her arms around his torso and hugging him tightly. She felt him stiffen for a moment before he awkwardly pat at her head, echoing her sentiments. A few moments later, Mai pulled away to turn towards the eager voice of Ayako. As she moved away to greet her in a similar fashion, she missed the concerned gaze that stayed locked onto her. She also missed how Monk approached their tall, Chinese coworker and spoke to him with a serious expression on their faces.

Mai tossed her arms around Ayako's waist and the older woman pet her head affectionately in response. "Let me look at you," the older woman ordered, gently pushing back the teen, "I haven't seen you in almost two months." Her manicured hand cupped Mai's cheek and tilted her face up to look at her. She leaned forward and kissed her cheek, causing the girl to giggle, which in turn made her smile. "You look positively awful. Stop staying up so late studying; it's not good for you to increase your stress levels with less sleep. Especially when you have a job like this one."

The young girl brushed her off and shook her head. "I'm fine; I'm fine," she told her dismissively. "I haven't even had tests recently and Naru has been letting me do homework at work during slow hours." She picked up some of their overnight bags and headed into the house with Ayako and Masako quick on her heels, a bag in each of their hands.

Once inside, Lin showed them to their room, reminding them that Naru wanted them to finish unpacking the equipment within the hour. Naru had explained to her during his first week back from England that his father allowed employees to unpack their personal baggage before unpacking the equipment-and it had yielded positive results in psychics getting a read on their surroundings. There were times where, Naru told her, after unpacking, psychics would come down and explain that they needed charms in their rooms for when they slept. Considering how violent some of their own experiences had been, particularly with Mai's astral projections, he found it necessary to implement that same practice to SPR.

As the women unpacked, Ayako rattled off questions, asking how the two younger girls had been, how their studying sessions with Yasuhara were going, if they were eating alright, and _oh my god Mai-chan, you're still not dating?_ Masako and Mai answered diligently, explaining that the medium had been gone for the last month on a shoot-she briefly mentioned something about an island used a lot for fighting during the second world war and needing to seek translational help from an American cameraman. Mai pointedly ignored the last question with an angry huff. She made a mental note to thank her best friend later when the dark haired medium quickly changed the subject to Ayako's past month.

She thinks it's obvious-that everyone knows she's in love with Naru. She has seen the pitying looks on their faces before, remembered the way everyone stuck beside her like glue for the first week after their departure. There was no way that they didn't know. However, she had only told Masako what had happened that day by the lake. It had been a good four months into their friendship when Mai broke down into tears and explained to her everything: about Gene and Naru, her love for both of them in varying degrees. Gene had led her, protected her, but had lied to her. It didn't matter why. He had pretended to be his brother; Mai didn't know the first thing about him. Naru had taught her, protected her, made her laugh, made her feel safe, made her feel angry, made her _feel_ so much more than she had before. He had opened up a whole new world to her that gave her life purpose and she could never thank him enough. How could she have fallen in love with anyone but him?

 _Gene._ Some days the name itself stirred anger inside of her. She knew she wasn't really angry at him. She supposed that all of her emotions surrounding him were so complicated that it was easy to settle on anger. Mai felt confused, betrayed. She wasn't angry; he had helped her far too much for her to be just purely angry. She didn't know why he had lied to her; she couldn't understand it. The worst part was that she would never know. He had moved on. Naru had told her so, as if to console her. The idiot still thinks she's infatuated with a dead man. Then again, as Masako had pointed out, she hadn't fought too hard against him.

Mai supposed it was easier to pretend she had fallen in love with the wrong twin than to be dismissed, which she reckoned hurt a lot more than rejection, by the one she _had_ fallen in love with.

It really didn't take long for reality to crash down upon her in the wake of Naru and Lin's departure.

The girl shook her head a little to dispel the thoughts. She was being silly. That was twice in three days that she had spaced out thinking about how she had gotten here. She was here. That was all that mattered.

With one last mental shake, Mai closed up her bag and set it up in the corner of the room. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Ayako let out a loud " _Oh!_ " Mai watched her with wide, surprised eyes as she grabbed something from her bag. "Mai-chan, close your eyes! I bought you a present," she said excitedly. "I can't believe I almost forgot about it!" Mai frowned a little until Ayako gave her a pointed glare and the young girl obeyed.

"You don't have to buy me stuff, Ayako-san," she said softly. "I can take care of myself, you know."

The older woman huffed and Mai realized she was now standing in front of her. "I know you can take care of yourself if you have to," the miko said gently. "The point is that you don't have to right now, Mai-chan. I'm here. So is that good-for-nothing monk. You don't need to take care of yourself with the two of us around." She cleared her throat. "Now hold out your arms. It's just a dress I thought would look good on you."

Mai obeyed and let a soft sigh fall from her lips with she felt the silky material fall into her hands. "It feels pretty," she gasped quietly. She heard Masako and Ayako laugh at her a little.

"Look at it, Mai-chan," Masako urged. "Despite Ayako-san's terrible sense in her own fashion, I agree that this will look great on you." Both of the young girls giggled at the angry noise that escaped the miko's mouth.

When her eyes opened, another gasped ripped from her throat. The dress fell from her hands and she rushed away from it, tripping on her own feet and landing on her ass. She could vaguely hear Masako and Ayako worrying about her as her head swam. Her throat started closing in on itself and her instincts were clawing at her stomach violently.

"No, no," she mumbled, crawling further back away from the dress. Ayako dropped to her knees beside her and tried speaking with her again. Mai's throat and diaphragm spasmed and she finally sucked in a deep, desperate breath, which quickly fled her lungs again. The action repeated itself. Then she was hyperventilating.

Ayako grabbed her by her face, holding her still to force the young girl to look at her in the eye. "Mai-chan, you need to tell me what's wrong. What happened? I can't help if I don't know," she said, trying to keep her voice calm, but there was still a hysterical edge to it. "Masako-san says there are no spirits in the room. You need to tell me what I can do to help."

"You can't do anything to help," Mai whimpered. "Can't do anything. Because there's nothing _wrong_." She curled close to Ayako's side and wrapped an arm around her waist. She shuddered as she looked at the object discarded on the floor in front of her.

On the ground sat the dress that Ayako had bought her. It was silky red, with a pretty, feminine lace trim, a modest neckline, and delicate paisley print.

It was the dress that she had worn in her dream earlier that day.

* * *

 ** _A.N._**

 ** _Ayy, sorry about the late as fuck update friends. This is a major filler chapter for me, because this is me setting up the universe for you because you're not in my head and cannot possibly understand everything that I have planned for this world, and filler chapters SUCK to write. Especially for me. So I had like no motivation to write this plus some places were really difficult. So major shoutout to my college roommate/good friend who helped work through tough spots with me and encouraged me to write this or else who knows when this chapter would have been finished._**

 ** _Anyways, I'll try harder to be more consistent on my release timeline._**

 ** _Also, I love you all for commenting, but please remember that Naru is a socially awkward teen that doesn't know how to communicate his emotions._**

 ** _AKA this is me telling you he was flirting during the whole "Oliver" scene. He wasn't being mean. He was FLIRTING._**


	6. Chapter 5

**Title: Unexpected Developments**

 **Fandom: Ghost Hunt**

 _Case File I: Attenuate_

 _Chapter 4_

 _Day 2 continued_

Mai was certain there was something wrong with her. She had to be some sort of broken. She never reacted like this, never felt like this before. Yet, she had cried into Ayako's shoulder over a dress that had appeared in her dream for almost ten full minutes. She felt so hopeless and helpless-it was nothing she hadn't felt before, but it had been a very long time since she had felt these emotions so viciously. That was what was foreign. The intensity of the emotions. It felt out of place-wrong; almost like it didn't fit her situation.

She also felt fear, which she understood. She understood fear far too well since starting to work for SPR. Sometimes she wonders if she ever knew what fear was before she had her world opened beyond her orphan high school routine. Fear, in all its varying degrees, was no longer a stranger to her.

Fears about her dreams were no odd occurrence either. She had been born into a world of routine and normalcy; Naru had introduced her to a world in between what is and what was: a plane of existence where the dead affected and interacted with the living. But it was Gene who dragged her into a third world. A world far more terrorizing; where realities blurred together and she lost her existence, her identity, where she could feel a death wash over her that didn't belong, feel pain that wasn't her own, feel fear and sadness and anger that was projected into her against her will.

She didn't hate him, she reminded herself. She had been born with these abilities. Once, in an email, Madoka had hypothesized that with Naru's extreme levels of PK, especially with how he had liberally used it within her presence, trying to save her from her bad luck with the supernatural and, she was sure, as part of his little magic trick he had done to make her feel better, had stirred awake what had lay dormant inside of her. She had been told that it could have been a lot worse without a spirit guide, though she never told Madoka _who_ her spirit guide had been; apparently it was normal to have a complete stranger be your spirit guide, to name your own guide-this made her feel unending amounts of guilt. Had she pushed the role of Naru onto Gene? Mai asked Madoka, who had come to Japan to oversee some equipment transfer and had invited the teen to dinner, if she had given the wrong name to her guide if he could have corrected her.

"The wrong name?" Madoka had asked, looking thoroughly perplexed.

Mai had flushed pink and couldn't make eye contact with her. "What if a spirit guide _looked_ like someone I knew?" she whispered, shame clearly coloring her voice. "What if he _looked_ like someone so I called him by that name?" She had tried to will back the tears of self-embarrassment. "But that's not who he is and he _pretended_ to be because that's what I called him."

Mai suspected Madoka knew then. Mai hadn't _said_ it was Gene, but maybe Naru had acted oddly enough around the subject of his twin's spirit that this question linked together all of the evidence for her. The older woman had affectionately pet her head and Mai had to bite her lip to keep from bursting into tears. "He wouldn't have pretended to be anyone if he didn't want to, Mai-chan," she had said softly. "I don't know why. Maybe he thought it was for the best. That you'd feel safe with who you called him by instead of a stranger."

Sometimes she wondered if Madoka was right; if Gene had really pretended to be Naru so she would feel safe with him. Part of her wished he hadn't moved on so quickly so that she could thank him for protecting her as her spirit guide. Without him, she could have completely lost herself within other realities. It was easy to blame and hate Gene, especially when he was no longer here and after he had lied to her, putting her into the situation she was in with Naru, but she knew, in the end, that it had nothing to do with him. If anything, he kept her from tumbling into insanity.

There were times where she would lay in bed and laugh to herself about how bad of a guide Gene actually was. Yes, he protected her from insanity, but he used to spoon-feed her information. She supposed it was easier just to tell her than to try to teach her while pretending to be his twin; she also knew he hadn't meant to be found when he was. Perhaps one day he would have told her the truth and would have taught her how to find information instead of just handing it to her.

Honestly, that was the hardest part of Gene moving on. She didn't know how to find what she needed in her dreams and she didn't know who to ask for help. Like the dream earlier today in the van; she was unable to pull herself from the mirror to even begin to ask for what she needed to know.

She shuddered suddenly. The dream had been about her. It wasn't unusual to take on the identity of the spirits in her dreams, but that dream had not been about a spirit. Mai had been wearing the dress that Ayako had just bought for her. It had been _Mai_ who was so deathly ill. Despite the disbelief that mounted in her stomach, the want for it to be anyone but her, something stirred inside of her that ached with the realization that it was.

Mai still hadn't told anyone. She had spun some half-ass excuse about being stressed about school since everyone was starting to ask where she wanted to attend university, which, as true as those events were, weren't really causing her distress. She had worked hard on her grades and was gathering her courage to ask either Lin, Madoka, or Naru himself to write a recommendation letter to the university his father worked at so she can attend parapsychology classes.

Honestly, she didn't think either Masako nor Ayako bought that excuse, but they had dropped the subject once Mai seemed visibly calm. She was thankful she had been able to calm down before Naru had sent someone to check up on them. She also hoped they didn't say anything to him; knowing Ayako, she would demand he give her less hours until her stress went away and she really didn't want to lose some of her income now that she was diligently saving for university, especially when she was thinking about attending one overseas.

She was currently setting up cameras and audio devices silently, mulling over the dream in her mind, turning the experience over and over in her thoughts to look at it from different angles. Mai was only barely listening to the monotonous orders Lin was giving her as she agonized over the meaning of what she had witnessed. Would she get sick no matter what? Was this a warning she may get sick if she wasn't careful?

If she was going to get sick, no matter what she did, she decided she didn't want to tell the family she had made at SPR. She had looked god awful in her dream, like she was going to drop dead any day. As much as she would hate dying alone, having the people she had come to love watch her waste away would be the last thing she wanted. Her stomach was twisting in knots at the thought of dying as young as she had looked in her dream. She hadn't looked much different than she did now, so she assumed it would happen within the next couple years.

Stopping in the middle of the hallway, she let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes. She was healthy right now. Thinking about this and worrying constantly about what may not even happen was going to destroy her. She pushed her thoughts into the corner of her mind and sealed it away to go over later. She shook her head a little and brushed her hair from her face before she set up the last camera, replying with a quiet affirmative when Naru told her she could return to base.

On her way back, she grabbed the apple she had stored inside of her bag from the girls' room. Working on the cameras never failed to make her hungry and she was now fully regretting not having eaten before going into work today.

Walking down the main hall, she could see Naru, John, and Monk speaking with Takada-san outside of the main room where they had set up base. She could hear their voices, but, out of respect, she didn't listen in. Instead, she brought the apple to her lips to take a bite, wanting to curb her hunger before Naru dismissed them for lunch.

The apple never made it to her tongue.

Just as she was going to bite into it, her arm went icy cold and the fruit was yanked from her fingers, a high-pitched yelp slipping from her lips as it was, and flung away. It flew down the hall, landed with a loud thud, and bounced to the feet of the men who had turned to look at her, startled, when she cried out.

Her body was quivering. She still felt freezing cold, but it was now spreading from her arm to her entire body. Mai could see her breath forming visibly each time she could get her lungs to breathe. Overwhelming sadness flooded her, so much she couldn't move. Sadness and disgust crashed over her mind in powerful waves, drowning her in the intensity. Her knees buckled and her body crumpled to the floor, her hands clasping over her heart as she began hyperventilating.

Mai heard a distressed voice calling her name, felt warm hands on her upper arms trying to pull her to her feet, and someone who had to have been John reciting a prayer. She felt the flecks of water splatter on her skin before the cold dissipated quickly, leaving her gasping on the floor, Monk holding her.

"God, Mai-chan, you're freezing," the monk said, rubbing her arms with his hands, trying to bring the warmth back to her limbs. "What the hell just happened?" Her body quaked and she turned her body slightly to seek out the warmth he offered her. Though the cloud of cold was no longer surrounding her, Monk had been right, her skin was still clammy and chilled to the touch.

She jumped a little as something was set around her shoulders. Her head snapped up to see Lin placing a blanket on her with a concerned frown on his face. Behind him, Naru was holding open the door of the room where they had set up base. Suddenly she was in Monk's arms and he was standing up, carrying her into the main room, her body still shaking from adrenaline, fear, and cold.

Mai was gently set onto the couch and she huddled into the blanket, drawing it over her head. She wanted to be small right now. She could still feel the leftover emotions that had ripped through her heart, emotions she recognized but were clearly not hers. It scared her. She's felt fear from being in contact with ghosts before; it was her body's natural response. She has also felt emotions from taking on their realities inside of her dreams, but never like this when she was awake. Yet, despite never having felt quite like this, it felt vaguely familiar and sent her instincts rolling in her stomach.

The teen could feel two bodies, one sitting down on the couch on either side of her. From the gentle touches and the flowery smell of perfume, she knew Masako and Ayako had returned from their rounds. "Shibuya-san," Masako asked quietly, "what happened? All I felt was massive amounts of hate for a few moments." Her small hands rubbed Mai's shoulders through the blanket. She shuddered and leaned against her best friend, her body seeking the comfort she so desperately wanted.

"The ghost took interest in Mai," he said, his voice contemplative, "It took an apple from her and threw it down the hall towards us." Mai felt herself slowly coming down from the high of her fear and pulled back the blanket from where it was around her head. She saw Naru staring, eyes slightly narrowed, a frown marring his face, at the hall, his chin resting between his two fingers. "You said you felt hate, Hara-san?" he inquired, gaze swinging over to where the women sat on the couch. At her nod he seemed even more thoughtful. "Where did you feel the hate being directed?"

"It felt aimless," Masako commented, voice slightly puzzled.

The more they spoke, the calmer Mai felt. She realized their voices were anchoring her to her own reality. Her friends, the ones she loved, they were keeping her from falling too far deep into lost lives, without even knowing it. From inside of her, she felt her instincts pulse with warmth at the thought and it spread throughout her body.

"Aimless?" he questioned.

Masako shifted uneasily under his gaze. "It felt aimless, but I was too far away to actually get a good reading on the ghost for what short amount of time she showed, Shibuya-san," she elaborated. "It could have been directed at you, Mai, or the universe. It seemed aimless for the moment I felt it."

"It's for sure a girl though," Monk asked, "right?" The medium nodded her confirmation and Naru seemed to be in thought again. "Locking doors and throwing apples seems like pranks boys would pull," the monk mused quietly, "not something a girl would do."

"And how, pray tell, would you know what a girl would do?" Ayako asked, huffing. She flicked a lock of her hair over her shoulder and leveled him with a glare. "Girls can do anything a boy can do, you know."

Monk scoffed and rolled his eyes. "That's not what I'm saying, old lady," he quipped. "I'm trying to say that it felt like a prank. Like it was trying to make us think Mai would throw an apple at us. It backfired on the punk because Mai would never do that, at least not to me."

"Old lady?" she hissed. "You're one to talk, ugly old monk! God! Why would a ghost try to frame Mai for a prank? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Do you even listen to the shit that pours out of your mouth?"

"I'm just saying! Takada-san said it used to lock the mother and daughter in rooms and they thought it was their younger sons for a few months," he reasoned defensively. "It seems like a pattern to me."

John shifted uncomfortably where he stood. "Unless you take into account the shattering mirrors and Takada-san's daughter being dragged from the dinner table," he pointed out. "It was a good theory though, Monk-san." The monk visibly deflated at the point.

Through all the talking, Mai had completely relaxed and she felt warm again. She dropped the blanket from around her shoulders and let it lay in her lap. Suddenly she found Naru looking at her and she blushed at his intense look. "Feeling better, Mai?" he asked evenly, making everyone in the room bring their awareness back to the teen. She nodded, her flushed cheeks brightening under everyone's sudden attention. "What happened, Mai?" he asked, nodding towards Lin, who sat at the computer and started typing before waiting patiently for her response.

She was thankful the moment Takada-san entered base; she was unsure of what to tell her boss. The girl was still reeling from what she had experienced. Mai ignored Naru's obvious distaste for the interruption and greeted the man with a smile. The man, still clearly distressed about what he had just witnessed happen to her, bowed deeply in front of her. "Please forgive me, Taniyama-san."

 _Guilt. He's guilty._ Her eyebrows drew together in confusion at the thoughts that popped into her mind and shook her head. Why would he be guilty? He hadn't done anything wrong. "Ah, no, Takada-san. I'm alright," she explained nervously, shaking her hands in front of her. "Don't apologize. And please just call me Mai!" Why did she feel so certain he felt guilty?

The man rose from his bow, but was still apologetic. "I am so sorry, Mai-san," he said. He wouldn't elaborate, however. _Hiding something. Shame. He is hiding something._ She bit her lip and looked away. Wasn't this what her notes had said too? Why was she thinking these things? Despite her wanting to think she was being silly behind her suspicions, she felt so positive in her thoughts.

"Takada-san," Naru suddenly called, tearing her from her thoughts. "You said your wife refused for her and the children to be in the house during the investigations, correct?" When the owner of the house nodded, the young man frowned in annoyance. He crossed his arms over his chest and stood still, looking at the floorboards for a few moments in tense silence. "I usually don't let this happen, but if she is being uncooperative, I will allow you and your family to stay at your sister's home unless it becomes clear that the ghost is attached to one of your family members." His voice was hard, an edge of anger that she had often heard when someone defied what he wanted, which she knew was only the best he could do for clients and employees, so she understood why he was upset.

The older man paled at the phrase of the sentence and nodded. "O-of course," he stammered, "thank you, Shibuya-san." He bowed his head at the young man and then gave one more apologetic look towards Mai. "I will leave you to your investigation then and go to my family." He then hurried out of the house and left them sitting in the room.

Naru still had a displeased look on his face and he curled one of his hands into a fist. In that moment, Mai breathed in sharply as she felt the air around her buzz. He sharply breathed out of his nose and loosened his hand from the fist. The space in the room suddenly fell stagnant and lost the sharp edge to it. She peered breathlessly at him, unsure as to what had just happened.

Her breath caught in her throat again when he pinned her with his eyes. Naru stared at her and she felt like he was studying her. Again, it felt like he was waiting for her. Like he knew something was not right and he was patient in waiting for her to tell him. Suddenly, the air felt like it was moving again. Except, instead of a sharp buzz, she felt a gentle vibration and it caused a blush to stain her cheeks.

The vibration stopped when he tore his gaze from her and started ordering the rest of their team. "Monk-san, take Hara-san to finish the rounds she was doing before Mai's incident. Matsuzaki-san, make charms for the base, the kitchen, the main halls, and the two bedrooms." With their tasks set, although sending a reluctant glance over their shoulders towards Mai sitting on the couch, the three left the room. "Brown-san, write a statement on how resistant the ghost felt and everything you gathered while chasing it away." The priest nodded and made his way to Lin, who promptly started typing out the report.

Then it was just Naru and Mai.

He moved until he stood just in front of where she was sitting on the couch. With a firm tug, he brought the blanket back up to rest around her shoulders. "Tell me what has happened since we've been here," he said, voice leaving no room for argument. "Have you dreamed? What are your instincts telling you?"

She avoided his piercing gaze, looking everywhere but him. "I just felt really cold when she took the apple from me. She seemed sad."

"You sensed it was female as well?"

Mai shook her head a little. "No. I didn't, but I believe Masako-chan."

"And have you dreamed?"

There was a beat of silence. "No, Naru, I haven't dreamed."

When he didn't answer, she dared to raise her eyes to his and nearly crumbled at the calculating look he was giving her. He didn't believe her. That was clear as day. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and he let out an impatient sigh. "Mai-"

"I had a nightmare about a test at school," she lied suddenly, adding anger behind her voice to make herself sound more confident. "I highly doubt my academic insecurities have anything to do with this case, Naru."

His jaw clamped shut and there was that feeling of the air buzzing sharply, something that made her hair stand on end and made her body shudder inexplicably. He looked upset, his eyes pinning her in place and making her feel as if she couldn't even look away. She knew that he knew she was lying. It surprised her he wasn't calling her out. Maybe he didn't feel as though he had enough evidence to pin her for lying to her employer. Maybe she was playing a dangerous game with him not telling him everything that had changed since he had left for England last year, but sometimes she felt like she physically couldn't get the words to form. Maybe she had made a mistake ever coming back to work for him. It was so clear she wasn't over whatever she felt for him. It was like a dark stain on the fabric of their platonic and professional relationship; one that would never wash out.

She was so dramatic, a teenage brat. No wonder he hadn't wanted her. Mai wasn't pretty enough; he had grown up in England and she was just a plain little Japanese girl. Sadness, disgust, and self-hatred washed over her, feeling so foreign and familiar all at once. Her gut twisted violently but she brushed her instincts aside. He was so much more powerful than she was. He had destroyed a god. She was miniscule compared to him; how was she ever supposed to-

"Mai."

Her head jerked up from where it had tilted for her to stare unseeingly at the floor. All three of the men who were in the room were staring at her. _Concern. They're worried._ She shook the thought and stood shakily from the couch, keeping the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Mai felt their eyes follow her as she walked across the room.

Unsure of what to say, she could only dumbly whisper, "My apple…" She wrenched the doors to the hall open and her apple still lay on the floor, forgotten in the chaos. Mai bent to pick it up and rolled it in her hands as she straightened. Looking back into base, she noticed Naru and Lin hadn't moved, but John had followed a little behind her, all still looking just as concerned as they were when she first stood. Still not knowing how to soothe their fear, she found herself saying quietly, "It's all bruised…"

John's eyes flickered to the beat up apple that lay in the palm of her hand and frowned a little. "Ah, I have rice crackers in my bag." he offered gently, "would you like some, Mai-chan?"

For some reason, the idea of him getting food for her made her feel the overwhelming wave of sadness and disgust again. "No thank you, John-san," she heard herself say softly, "I wasn't hungry anyways." And, although just seconds ago hunger had been tearing at her stomach, she found the statement to be true.

She didn't want to eat anymore.


End file.
